Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Best 70's Horror Films

We, here at TOO SCARY 2 WATCH have compiled a list of 70's horror films (arranged by year) that we believe may be worth checking out, if you love 70's scary movies like we do. The "incomplete" list will continue to be updated as we continue to find more movies that we feel are worthy of adding.

It can be argued whether some of the movies on the list belong in the horror genre (depending on how one defines horror) ... nevertheless (with versatility in mind), we've done our best to include some that are cult classics, some that are horror comedies, some that are hammer films, some that are sci-fi action horror, some that are psychological thrillers, along with others that may be open for interpretation.________________________________________________________________________Disclaimer

Not all of the movies on the list, in our opinion, are good movies, but were chosen to be included for a variety of different reasons. -- Some are staple horror films of the seventies, some are popular horror films of the seventies, some are cult films, some have greatly influenced horror movies of the modern era, while others were remakes or sequels to classic horror films of decades past.

When her friend goes missing -- possibly at the hands of a serial killer -- while cycling through the French countryside, a British nurse (Pamela Franklin) is desperate to discover her fate. But the locals are unhelpful, and when an enigmatic detective joins the case, she begins to suspect his real motives and identity. This smart and creepily effective genre-bending suspense movie also stars Michele Dotrice, Claude Bertrand and Jean Carmet.

Witnessing a brutal attack on a woman but unable to help her, Sam (Tony Musante), an American traveling in Rome, soon finds himself the target of an elusive killer. The deeper Sam delves into the mystery, the more at risk he becomes. This highly stylized thriller marks the directorial debut of horror master Dario Argento (Suspiria, Opera), who would later become known as the Italian Alfred Hitchcock.

Christopher Lee returns to his most famous role in this classic chiller from director Roy Ward Baker. When his brother inexplicably vanishes, Simon Carlson (Dennis Waterman) and his girlfriend, Sarah Framsen (Jenny Hanley), set off to find him, following a trail that leads to the undead count's creepy castle -- where he takes a shine to the toothsome Sarah. Patrick Troughton, Christopher Matthews and Michael Gwynn also star.

Count Dracula (Christopher Lee) is back in action when three swingers turn to black magic to boost their sex-drive slump. The Count enters the picture when the group goes from drinking blood to worshipping Dracula's rival, Lord Courtley (Ralph Bates), causing Dracula to prey upon the three lusty youngsters. The chilling film climaxes with a tension-filled standoff inside a cathedral. Peter Sasdy helms this Hammer horror flick.

Blind retired detective Franco Arno (Karl Malden) overhears a strange conversation by two men outside a pharmaceutical company. When a series of killings occurs connected to the company's top secret research, Franco joins forces with a reporter (James Franciscus) to catch a killer with an extra chromosome. Catherine Spaak also appears in this traditional mystery from typically flamboyant horror director Dario Argento.

In this Stanley Kubrick classic based on Anthony Burgess's novel, teenage miscreant Alex DeLarge (Malcolm McDowell) wanders aimlessly amid a bleak, futuristic urban landscape, drinking drugged milk and listening to Beethoven with his fellow "droogs." But he also spends his time stealing, raping and beating innocent people in nihilistic orgies of violence, all in an attempt to get his nightly kicks.

This 1971 TV thriller made studio executives take notice of its young director, Steven Spielberg. Businessman David Mann (Dennis Weaver) is in a hurry to get to an appointment, so he innocently passes a slow-moving big rig on an isolated highway to be on his way. But that turns out to be the wrong move. Soon, he finds himself mercilessly pursued by the truck and its mystery driver, whose motives are unknown. Will Mann ever break free?

Scotland's Yard's search for a missing film star leads them to a haunted house, which serves as the framework for four tales of the macabre starring horror icons Peter Cushing, Christopher Lee and Ingrid Pitt. They include a writer's murderous creation coming to life, a wax figure causing a fatal argument, a young girl developing an intense interest in witchcraft and an actor finding a cape that helps immerse him in his role as a vampire.

Jessica (Zohra Lampert)is released from an institution after a mental breakdown, only to find terror around every corner in this 1970s horror flick. Even with her husband and best friend at her side, Jessica can't escape her insanity and the voices in her head, and the trio is soon tangled in a web of supernatural murders, vanished bodies and vampires. Convinced she's haunted by exterior forces, Jessica struggles not to give in to her delusions.

Charlton Heston plays Robert Neville, one of the last "intact" survivors of a biological war that's ravaged Earth's population in this Boris Sagal-helmed sci-fi thriller based on Richard Matheson's novel I Am Legend. Armed with an experimental vaccine for the disease that's turned everyone into light-averse zombies, Neville roams the empty streets of Los Angeles by day and fights off the mutated "subnormals" at night.

Silver-tongued radio disc jockey Dave (Clint Eastwood) can't help but notice the persistent calls from a female to "play 'Misty' for me." But a chance meeting with infatuated fan Evelyn leads to a brief and steamy love affair. Dave quickly learns he's in for more than a little night music, and that Evelyn will stop at nothing -- even the return of one of Dave's old flames -- to have him all to herself. The film marks Eastwood's directorial debut.

Blinded after a horseback-riding spill, Sarah (Mia Farrow) once again encounters darkness in a different, more menacing form. Returning to her aunt's home where she's convalescing, she's overwhelmed by the feeling that all's not right ... and it isn't. Fact is, things have gone terribly, murderously wrong. Director Richard Fleischer's vision emphasizes the creepy ambience of the story and makes the ending all the more powerful.

When a man murders his heiress wife, her relatives set out to narrow the field of inheritors by going on a killing spree. But when college kids take over an abandoned house on the property to hold a party, the body count really begins to soar.

A social misfit, Willard is made fun of by his co-workers, and squeezed out of the company started by his deceased father by his boss. His only friends are a couple of rats he raised at home, Ben and Socrates. (And their increasing number of friends) However, when one of them is killed at work, he goes on a rampage using his rats to attack those who have been tormenting him.

When young Dr. Martin goes after a job at the Dunmoor Asylum for the Incurably Insane, the first hoop his prospective employers make him jump through is pinpointing the patient who is the asylum's former director.

Four suburban friends take a canoeing trip down a Georgia river, but what starts as a lighthearted adventure becomes a voyage into the heart of darkness when redneck locals descend on the foursome and force them to kill or be killed. Jon Voight, Burt Reynolds, Ronny Cox and Ned Beatty star in this terrifying, enthralling, existential action epic that earned three Academy Award nominations: Best Picture, Best Director and Best Editing.

Tomas Milian and Barbara Bouchet star in one of director Lucio Fulci's most disturbing horror films. In rural Sicily, Italy, a psychotic killer is on the rampage, performing a series of shocking child murders for which there are many suspects. Among the potential culprits are a gypsy, a prostitute and a priest, but despite the plethora of possible perpetrators, the gruesome case proves baffling.

Unemployed London bartender Richard Blaney (Jon Finch) is suspected of killing his ex-wife in a string of serial strangulations in this Hitchcock thriller. Viewers learn early on that Bob Rusk (Barry Foster) is really the murderer, and suspense builds as Rusk's strangulation spree continues. Police inspector Oxford (Alec McCowen) must bear his wife's attempt at gourmet food as he tries to solve the case, doubtful that Blaney's the strangler.

Millionaire Ray Milland kills any animal that moves on his island estate. The slaughter continues even when his family visits the island. Sam Elliott challenges Milland to mend his ways -- but to no avail. That means the swamp critters will have to decide things on their own. For Kermit & Co., it's payback time. You'll laugh till you croak!

A mesmerizing journey into the inner workings of an unstable mind, this atmospheric drama stars Susannah York as Cathryn, a children's book author who -- while trying to sort out her life -- finds fantasy and reality colliding in an endless delusion. Sensing her angst, Cathryn's husband (Rene Auberjonois) whisks her off for a weekend at their secluded country home, where her increasingly distorted visions slowly draw her into madness.

In this cult horror favorite from twisted writer-director Wes Craven, a pair of repulsive, sadistic escaped convicts kidnap, rape, torture and murder two teenage girls -- but the criminals have picked the wrong teens to victimize. One of the girls' parents, not content with turning to the law, set out to exact an equally brutal revenge on the vicious murderers, who are hiding out in the family's home.

This hair-raising docudrama explores the legend of an elusive Bigfoot-like beast that for years terrorized the rural community of Fouke, Ark. Interviews with townsfolk claiming to have seen the hirsute creature -- purportedly 7 feet tall with long limbs and three toes on each foot -- are interspersed with reenactments. Helmed by Charles B. Pierce, this cult favorite inspired a pair of sequels and scads of copycats. The film's visual style is cited as the inspiration for the look and pacing of 'The Blair Witch Project'.

Set in bucolic 1935 Connecticut, director Robert Mulligan's chiller follows identical Perry twins Niles (Chris Udvarnoky) and Holland (Martin Udvarnoky) as a string of tragedies befalls their family. But Niles soon begins to see a link between Holland and the "accidents." With the Perry clan still reeling from the untimely demise of the boys' father, their mother (Diana Muldaur) ends up paralyzed, and a corpulent cousin is impaled on a pitchfork.

When a sightseeing trip leads them astray, a group of tourists (including the glamorous Joan Collins) find themselves lost in an underground labyrinth where they come face to face with a monk (Ralph Richardson) who foretells their futures. Freddie Francis directs this vintage horror classic based on the chilling stories of William M. Gaines and Al Feldstein, a film not to be confused with the long-running HBO anthology series.

When a government plane laden with biological weapons crashes in a small Pennsylvania town in this George Romero film, its deadly cargo seeps into the water supply -- and anyone who drinks the water becomes stark, raving mad. David (Will McMillan), a firefighter, and his wife, Judy (Lane Carroll), are two of a very few left unscathed. To save themselves, they and a few others attempt to escape … but for some of them, it may be too late.

After losing their young daughter in a tragic drowning accident, John (Donald Sutherland) and Laura (Julie Christie) Baxter relocate to Venice, Italy, where they meet an elderly psychic woman who insists that she sees the spirit of the child. The couple is unsure of this stranger's visions, but John begins to have psychic flashes of his own, seeing the child walk the streets of Venice. Is he insane, or is there a deeper meaning to the sightings?

When movie actress Chris MacNeil (Ellen Burstyn) begins to suspect that an evil spirit is possessing her young daughter, Regan (Linda Blair), she calls in two priests (Max von Sydow and Jason Miller) to try and exorcise the demon against frightening and formidable odds. Writer William Peter Blatty scored an Academy Award for his big-screen adaptation of his own novel; the film also won an Oscar for Best Sound.

Andy Warhol presents the director's cut of this campy, gore-filled spin on the classic horror tale directed by his compatriot Paul Morrissey. This adaptation tells the story of a mad scientist who builds a sex-crazed Adam and Eve with the intention of creating a new race of people. Warhol fave Joe Dallesandro plays a sweaty stable hand whose only job is to play with the wife of Dr. Frankenstein (Udo Kier).

In this anthology film based on four R. Chetwynd-Hayes short stories, the action revolves around an antique shop called Temptations and the tragedies that befall the fools who attempt to cheat the store's owner (Peter Cushing). In one of the stories, a customer (David Warner) unleashes an evil entity from an antique mirror; in another, a henpecked husband strikes up a sinister friendship with a retired army officer (Donald Pleasence).

It's a scary proposition, but a team of four paranormal investigators accepts an invitation for a week's stay in a mansion rumored to be haunted. Depending on their viewpoints, the group members either intend to prove the presence of ghosts or are determined to debunk the myths. Previous guests of Hell House are known to have gone mad. … Will this group survive the week?

Reporter Grace Collier (Jennifer Salt) sees model Danielle Breton (Margot Kidder) commit murder in the apartment across the way and promptly alerts the police -- who find no corpse or other evidence of the crime, forcing Grace to crack the case on her own. She teams with private eye Joseph Larch (Charles Durning), with the trail leading to Danielle's once-conjoined twin and a creepy mental asylum in director Brian De Palma's disturbing shocker.

Vincent Price channels his peerless talent for playing refined madmen into the character of Edward Lionheart, a proud London actor who goes dramatically bonkers when he fails to receive a coveted award. While riverside tramps foil Lionheart's attempt to drown himself in the River Thames, the world believes he's met a watery end. The thespian uses this cover to exact grisly -- and fitting -- revenge on the critics who ignored his genius.

Trapped in an office building basement, five men reveal their darkest dreams in this compilation of chilling tales pulled from the E.C. Comics archives. In "Midnight Mess," a man stumbles into a restaurant after murdering his sister, only to discover that he's surrounded by diners with an insatiable appetite for blood. But that's only one of the terrifying gems you'll find locked in the Vault of Horror.

Pious detective Neil Howie (Edward Woodward) gets more than he bargained for when he probes a young girl's disappearance in this harrowing psychological thriller. An anonymous tip sends Howie to a private island off the Scottish coast, where the Christian constable encounters a populace of … modern pagans. As he dauntlessly follows a string of tantalizing and progressively disturbing clues, the trail leads him to a shocking conclusion.

Terror reigns inside a sorority house a few days before Christmas break as a series of menacing phone calls -- and the discovery of a dead girl's body -- transform yuletide cheer into fear. Margot Kidder, Olivia Hussey and Andrea Martin ("SCTV") co-star as just a few of the petrified sisters at the mercy of an unseen stalker in this 1970s horror gem from director Robert Clark, who told a much happier holiday tale with his 1983 classic, A Christmas Story.

Paul Morrissey directs and Udo Kier stars (as the Count) in Andy Warhol's high-camp adaptation of the timeless Dracula tale. When the blood supply in Romania dries up, the ever-thirsty Dracula travels to Italy to feed himself. There, he meets the Marquis Dafoe (Vittorio de Sic), father of four luscious daughters. Dracula's plans are thwarted, though, when he learns that the handyman (Joe Dallesandro) has already tainted the vestal virgins.

When a married couple (John Marley and Lynn Carlin) receives the news that their son (Richard Backus) died in the line of duty during the Vietnam War, they're overcome with grief. So, when they're told soon after that a mistake was made and their son is on his way home, they're flooded with relief -- until they see him and realize he's not quite the same. In fact, he seems more dead than alive.

This final episode of Hammer Films' 1930s Frankenstein franchise was directed by Terence Fisher and produced by Universal Studios. Peter Cushing (starring in his signature role) and Shane Briant play Baron Frankenstein and his assistant Helder, who are still at work bringing the dead to life -- with "monstrous" results. Using body parts "donated" by the inmates of a prison,Frankenstein creates a gruesome ghoul that looks in part like an ape.

Blending gore and giggles, director Larry Cohen's cult classic follows Frank and Lenore Davis (John P. Ryan and Sharon Farrell), an ordinary couple who produce an extraordinary baby -- a fanged mutant that sets off on a killing spree to survive. Determined to destroy the child, an anguished Frank joins a citywide hunt for the little monster but suddenly has second thoughts and defends his hideous offspring. Guy Stockwell also stars.

When a sudden rash of violent murders sweeps across a sleepy town in northern England, the head police inspector (Arthur Kennedy) suspects it's the work of a pair of hippie antique dealers (Ray Lovelock and Cristina Galbó) who've just moved to the area. But soon, the inspector learns that the true culprits are a band of flesh-eating zombies reanimated by the radiation waves of the town's new subsonic agricultural machine.

Director Tobe Hooper's horror classic is a gruesome reminder that a movie need not be complicated to scare the daylights out of viewers. Sally (Marilyn Burns), her wheelchair-bound brother (Paul A. Partain) and their friends travel to a vandalized graveyard to see if their grandfather's remains are intact. En route, they come upon chainsaw-wielding maniac Leatherface (Gunnar Hansen), and it's a fight to the bloody death between good and evil.

A laugh riot from beginning to end, this classic parody from director Mel Brooks stars Gene Wilder as Frederick Frankenstein, who detests his family history but ultimately can't resist the temptation to follow in his infamous grandfather's footsteps. Adding to the fun is a brilliant supporting cast that includes Marty Feldman as bug-eyed assistant Igor, Madeline Kahn as Frankenstein's frosty fiancée and Peter Boyle as the zipper-necked monster.

In Dario Argento's horror classic jazz pianist Marcus Daly (David Hemmings) witnesses the murder of his neighbor, a psychic who had read the mind of her killer. Marcus soon teams up with a resourceful reporter (Daria Nicolodi), and the two set out to find the killer. After the professor (Glauco Mauri) Marcus called on for help turns up dead, Marcus realizes that he'll be the next to die if he can't track down the killer.

This notorious horror parody -- a fast-paced potpourri of camp, sci-fi and rock 'n' roll, among other things -- tracks the exploits of naïve couple Brad (Barry Bostwick) and Janet (Susan Sarandon) after they stumble upon the lair of transvestite Dr. Frank-N-Furter (Tim Curry). The film -- a bizarre musical co-starring Meat Loaf and Richard O'Brien -- bombed in its initial release but later gained a cult following at midnight showings.

This deeply disturbing movie updates a work by the Marquis de Sade and portrays the fate of 18 Italian youths who are kidnapped by Nazis. Held in a remote palace, they must endure endless sexual and other humiliations and are then sentenced to die. Pier Palo Pasolini directs this provocative film, which stars Paolo Bonacelli and Giorgio Cataldi. This movie includes intensely graphic material.

Joanna Eberhart (Katherine Ross), a New York photographer, and her husband Walter (Peter Masterson) leave the city for the peace and quiet of the suburbs. Upon moving to Stepford, Conn., Joanna and her new friend Bobbie (Paula Prentiss) notice something strange about the town's housewives. They seem to live only for their household chores and their husbands and lack a certain liveliness. What could be behind the women's strange behavior?

Director David Cronenberg's film debut revels in his pet theme: deep-rooted fears of our bodies and sexuality. A scientist's neighbors fall to primal urges after he unleashes a sexually transmitted parasite that destroys inhibitions in its host body. This terrifying thriller tests nerves with its bloodthirsty, wormlike parasites -- in one gruesome and memorable sequence, they attack a woman in a bathtub.

Karen Black plays four roles in this collection of three creepy tales from the director of the classic serial "Dark Shadows." One of the rare TV movies to attain cult status, Trilogy of Terror is famous for the third story, "Amelia." In that segment, a deadly Zuni voodoo doll pursues Black. In "Julie," Black plays a teacher who has a disturbing relationship with a student. In "Millicent and Therese," she plays both good and evil in a set of twins.

After Alice Spages (Paula E. Sheppard) winds up dead in a church on the day of her first communion, all fingers point to her sister, Karen (Brooke Shields), who has always both despised Alice and wanted to be her. Their mother, Catherine (Linda Miller), doesn't know what or who to believe. Alfred Sole directs this chilling and fascinating film, in which a young Shields makes her big screen debut. Mildred Clinton co-stars.

Joel Reed's cult horror classic is not for the faint of heart -- or stomach. The ringleader of this gory circus is the sexless Sardu (Seamus O'Brien), who orchestrates torture shows in a seedy New York nightclub. Unbeknownst to the audience, the performances aren't staged; the victims are people who've been kidnapped and caged. When Sardu features a well-known ballerina and a critic in his show, his minions finally turn on him.

The vacationing Marian (Karen Black), David (Lee Montgomery), Ben (Oliver Reed) and Elizabeth (Bette Davis) rent a Victorian mansion in California for the summer and soon discover that all is not as it should be. For starters, dead plants come back to life and the pool appears to be a sort of trap. Behind all the strangeness are the Allardyce siblings, Arnold (Burgess Meredith) and Roz (Eileen Heckart).

Carrie (Sissy Spacek) may be ostracized, but the shy teen has the ability to move objects with her mind. So when the high school "in crowd" torments her with a sick joke at the prom, she lashes out with devastating -- and deadly -- power. William Katt (of television's "The Greatest American Hero") co-stars as the object of Carrie's affection in director Brian De Palma's deft adaptation of Stephen King's first novel.

Living by herself in her father's house, resourceful 13-year-old Rynn Jacobs will do anything to remain independent and to keep anyone from discovering what she's hiding in the cellar -- as her prying landlady finds out in this atmospheric chiller.

Robert (Gregory Peck) and Katherine (Lee Remick) Thorn raise a boy, Damien (Harvey Stephens), in place of their stillborn infant, and all is well until it is foretold that Damien is the spawn of the devil. Soon, Robert is pitted against the forces of Hell and must make a fateful decision. Richard Donner directs; Billie Whitelaw, David Warner, Patrick Troughton and Martin Benson co-star in this classic scary tale.

Among the most notorious cult films in American history, Snuff is famous for promoting the urban legend of the "snuff" film. In reality, it's an Argentinean exploitation film loosely based on the Sharon Tate murder. The film follows the exploits of a bearded man named Satan who leads a gang of biker chicks in a series of killings.

When a vicious storm ravages Fly Creek, Georgia, several power lines collapse, and the electrical current they transmit provides power to an underground burrow of worms. Soon, the slithering pests become outsized and begin to terrorize the town, while a Southern belle and her city-slicker boyfriend attempt to do battle with the giant creepy-crawlers.

Roman Polanski (who also directs) stars as Trelkovsky, a timid file clerk, moves into a rundown apartment with a history: The prior occupant jumped to her death from the dismal room's window, a fact that weighs heavily on him. In the psychotic environment of a dark Parisian building filled with odd characters, Trelkovsky feels overcome by madness. His slow mental deterioration compels him to contemplate emulating the woman's final, tragic hours.

The only thing Bill and Janice Templeton want is a peaceful life with their 11-year-old daughter, Ivy (Susan Swift). But their dreams turn into nightmares when Ivy begins to suffer from horrific memories of events that never occurred. Things only get weirder when a mysterious British stranger (Anthony Hopkins) tries to convince the family that Ivy is actually the reincarnation of his daughter, Audrey Rose, who died 11 years earlier.

One woman must save the world from a technology-spawned tyrant in this adaptation of Dean Koontz's book. Held captive by Proteus, an artificial brain with the power to reason, Susan Harris (Julie Christie) knows her only hope of escape is to outwit the wily computer. The tension builds as Proteus's mission becomes clear: for Susan to bear a child destined to rule the globe. Fritz Weaver and Gerrit Graham co-star.

Perennial heavy Neville Brand stars as Judd, the Scripture-muttering, one-legged owner of a backwater hotel in director Tobe Hooper's creepy thriller. Trouble starts when a young prostitute checks in and Judd -- offended by her line of work -- promptly kills her and feeds her to his pet crocodile. The cast of characters includes Carolyn Jones as a cathouse madam, Robert Englund as a randy redneck and Stuart Whitman as the clueless sheriff.

Auteur David Lynch sets this early effort in an industrial wasteland of a town, where young factory worker Henry Spencer (Jack Nance) dwells alongside grotesque characters and bizarre creatures -- not the least of which is his own child. Henry's girlfriend, Mary X (Charlotte Stewart), announces that she's expecting, but the real surprise comes when she gives birth to a deformed, squalling aberration -- and leaves the mutant in Henry's care.

Intent on discovering why Regan (Linda Blair) was possessed by the demon Pazuzu, Father Lamont (Richard Burton) travels to Africa in search of another who was once possessed by the same demon -- and learns that Pazuzu traverses the world via locusts. But when Father Lamont returns to New York, he discovers Pazuzu has reached Regan again through Dr. Gene Tuskin's (Louise Fletcher) hypnosis machine.

This creepy chiller stars Mia Farrow stars as Julia Lofting, a young mother trying to start over after her daughter's accidental death. Leaving her husband behind, Julia moves into a creaky old house ... which is inhabited by a vengeful spirit.

When their camper breaks down in the desert on their way to California, an all-American family struggles to survive the attacks of a cannibalistic clan hungry for the fresh meat of wayward vacationers. One by one, the family members fall prey to the inbred marauders, until only a son and daughter remain to rescue their kidnapped infant brother and seek vengeance against the savages. Horror master Wes Craven directs the film, which was remade in 2006.

An Arizona town is overrun by giant, hairy, vicious spiders in this creepy thriller. Investigating a mysterious rash of farm animal deaths, veterinarian Rack Hansen (William Shatner) discovers a migrating army of gargantuan tarantulas. Hansen and entomologist Diane Ashley (Tiffany Bolling) try to keep the killer spiders at bay, but the leggy giants can't be stopped and eventually surround a handful of terrified people in a remote hotel.

Neurotic whaler Nolan faces off with an enraged killer whale after he kills the whale's pregnant mate. Attempting to get a message across to Nolan, the whale attacks an innocent woman, prompting Nolan to track the whale as it heads north.

A young woman develops a taste for human blood after undergoing experimental plastic surgery, and her victims turn into rabid, blood-thirsty zombies who proceed to infect others, which turns into a city-wide epidemic.

Sixteen years after Ruby Claire's gangster boyfriend was shot and killed by four associates, a series of gruesome murders takes place at the drive-in movie theatre she now owns. Meanwhile, the behaviour of her mute daughter Leslie is becoming increasingly strange and a visiting psychic claims that forces from beyond are out for revenge.

Model Alison Parker (Cristina Raines) gets a great deal on a Brooklyn, N.Y., apartment -- but there's just one catch: It's also the gateway to Hell, and she's on the invite list. Universal's answer to The Exorcist features special makeup effects by Dick Smith and a stellar supporting cast: Chris Sarandon, Burgess Meredith, Jose Ferrer, Sylvia Miles, John Carradine, Christopher Walken, Jeff Goldblum, Ava Gardner and Tom Berenger.

This horror gem follows Susan (Jessica Harper), a naïve young American girl whose talents have brought her to an illustrious European ballet school. But once she gets there, she realizes there's something strange going on as she's faced with a cluster of freaky happenings, from a shower of maggots to poison in her food. What she soon learns is that the school has been a meeting place for witches for many years.

Jerry is a drifter who's spurred to action when he links several violent murders to tainted LSD that the killers -- and some of Jerry's college pals -- took in the '60s. He races to determine which of the unfortunate acid-droppers will snap next.

Michael Douglas, Genevieve Bujold. The patients in a Boston hospital are becoming comatose at an alarming rate. When a dedicated young doctor decides to investigate, she's in for a horrifying discovery.

Seven years after Damien Thorn's dad tried to slay him, the demon child has grown into an angry teenager (Jonathan Scott-Taylor) now living with his aunt (Lee Grant) and uncle (William Holden) -- and now Damien is slowly learning of his unholy heritage. Anyone who suspects the truth or stands in the way of his corporate legacy meets a gruesome end. But when the bodies pile up, Damien's uncle sees the light and plots the death of his satanic nephew.

Picking up where Night of the Living Dead left off, this classic horror flick from director George A. Romero begins with an undead army of flesh-eating zombies taking over every major city in the United States. Running for their lives, Peter (Ken Foree), Roger (Scott H. Reiniger), Stephen (David Emge) and Frances (Gaylen Ross) find refuge in a remote shopping mall, only to discover they have to fight a motorcycle gang, too.

Fashion photographer Laura Mars (Faye Dunaway) is surprised to learn that, through her camera's lens, she has the point of view of a grisly serial killer as he commits horrific murders. With the help of detective John Neville (Tommy Lee Jones), Laura tries to stop the madman. But she and John will have to be quick -- because the killer is getting closer. Irvin Kershner directs this dark thriller co-starring Brad Dourif and Raul Julia.

Michael Myers, who just escaped from a mental hospital, goes on a murderous rampage on Halloween night after returning to his hometown of Haddonfield, Ill. Inexplicably, his prize victim seems to be babysitter Laurie (Jamie Lee Curtis). Psychiatrist Dr. Loomis (Donald Pleasence) is on a mission to stop Myers in this slasher classic, which John Carpenter co-writes and directs. Nancy Kyes and Charles Cyphers co-star.

When writer Jenny Hill (Camille Keaton) rents a remote cabin, she's surprised to find the locals far too friendly. But what follows is decidedly unpleasant: After being violated and left for dead, Hill goes on her own spree of killing, mutilation and castration. Director Meir Zarchi's chilling revenge movie has the dubious honor of containing one of the longest and most violent gang-rape scenes on film.

San Francisco biologist Elizabeth Driscoll (Brooke Adams) turns to health inspector Matthew Bennell (Donald Sutherland) for help when her live-in beau begins acting odd -- and distant. Matthew and Elizabeth notice that suddenly almost everyone around them has become impassive. When their friends discover a developing doppelgänger in their commercial mud baths, the foursome realizes an alien invasion is under way. Can they stop it?

Just as Amity Island begins to rebound from a spate of deadly shark attacks, a pair of missing divers and a boating accident lead police chief Martin Brody (Roy Scheider) to suspect the worst, but his warnings go ignored by the mayor (Murray Hamilton). Sure enough, another great white lurks in the local waters, this time with its sights set on a group of sailing teens -- including Brody's two sons. Jeannot Szwarc directs this blockbuster sequel.

Acclaimed director Richard Attenborough helms this unconventional horror-thriller that reveals Anthony Hopkins's penchant for creepiness years before his Oscar-winning turn as Dr. Hannibal Lecter. After bombing in his first solo performance, a magician's assistant (Hopkins) holes up with a ventriloquist's dummy named Fats and eventually hones his act into something spectacular. But when Fats starts talking back, his master's at his mercy.

When a school of mutant piranha is accidentally released into a river -- and headed straight for a kids' summer camp -- it's up to investigator Maggie McKeown (Heather Menzies) and local woodsman Paul Grogan (Bradford Dillman) to prevent the potential carnage. This low-budget cult classic directed by Joe Dante (Gremlins) features surprisingly sharp humor, memorable dialogue and an unusual cast of characters.

Terror reigns inside an unassuming Los Angeles apartment building, where an unhinged handyman is hard at work on a disquieting new project: fixing "immoral" women's flaws with screwdrivers, hammers and an arsenal of razor-sharp power tools. Dennis Donnelly directs this grizzly exploitation offering from the 1970s, presented here in the same raw, uncensored form that shocked audiences more than 30 years ago.

Ridley Scott's sci-fi horror classic stars Sigourney Weaver as Ripley, a tough-as-nails warrant officer who stares down one of the most terrifying movie monsters of all time: a bloodthirsty alien that stalks and eviscerates its prey. As the deadly creature winds its way through the air shafts of the spacecraft Nostramo, the crew members consider deploying the ship's escape shuttle … but there's only room for four people.

This 1979 chiller is based on the reportedly true story of George Lutz (James Brolin) and his wife, Kathleen (Margot Kidder), who move into their Long Island dream house with their children. But the Lutz's lives turn into a hellish nightmare as the legacy of a murder committed on the premises gradually affects the family. Even the priest they call in, Father Delaney (Rod Steiger), cannot exorcise the demonic presence from the home.

After the painful breakup of her marriage, Nola (Samantha Eggar) seeks help at an experimental psychiatric clinic where she's encouraged to work through her subconscious feelings of hurt and rage through bodily manifestation. Unwittingly, Nola gives "birth" to living incarnations of her darkest inner impulses. Once released, "the brood" exacts gruesome revenge against Nola's family for every real and imagined slight. David Cronenberg directs.

Seeking refuge in the seaside home of a doctor (Donald Pleasence) and his daughter (Kate Nelligan), seductive shipwreck survivor Dracula (Frank Langella, reprising his Broadway role) works his deadly magic on a nubile houseguest (Jan Francis). Soon the noted vampire hunter Van Helsing (Laurence Olivier) is called to the scene. Dynamite performances and a moody score from John Williams highlight this stylish retelling of the horror classic.

This stylistic 1979 retelling of Bram Stoker's Dracula follows the bloodthirsty, undead count (menacingly played by Klaus Kinski) as he takes over the German village of Virna and then tries to spread his bloodsucking ways throughout the world. All that stands in his path is the lovely, selfless Lucy Harker (Isabelle Adjani). Iconoclastic German director Werner Herzog blends dreamlike imagery and a languid pace to give the film an ethereal milieu.

Often considered one of the icons of 1970s independent horror cinema, director Don Coscarelli's classic nail-biter follows two boys who, in pursuit of an odd-looking grave robber, may wind up as the newest members of a freshly dead slave race. Jody (Bill Thornbury) and Mike (A. Michael Baldwin) discover that the creature (Angus Scrimm) stealing cadavers walks the earth but lives in the afterworld -- and that it needs more corpses.

When author Ben Mears (David Soul) returns to his New England hometown of Jerusalem's Lot to write his new book, he becomes disturbed by the behavior of the townspeople, particularly new resident and antiques dealer Mr. Straker (James Mason). After Straker's partner, the vampire Mr. Barlow, arrives in Salem's Lot, he soon begins to convert the townsfolk into an army of the undead. Tobe Hooper directs this story based on Stephen King's novel.

A petrified baby-sitter, a relentlessly ringing telephone and whispered threats set the stage for this suspense-packed, hair-raising chiller. A string of menacing phone calls unnerves baby-sitter Jill Johnson (Carol Kane). When a compulsive shamus (Charles Durning) enters the scene to nab the caller -- a deranged killer -- Jill thinks all is well. But seven years later, the maniac returns to ruthlessly torment Jill, who's now a wife and mother.

After a New York harbor patrolman is murdered at the hands of a flesh-hungry ghoul aboard an abandoned yacht, Anne (Tisa Farrow) -- the daughter of the ship's missing owner -- teams with a newspaper reporter (Ian McCulloch) for a private investigation. Clues eventually lead them to a Caribbean island where the dead refuse to stay dead. A voodoo curse is at work, and now a battle with the bloodthirsty zombies awaits.

13 comments:

Fantastic list! There was one or two up there that I haven't seen so I wrote them down to add on my netflix. If you haven't seen it you should check out The Sentinel, it's a ghost story from the 70's and it's great.

Yes I've seen the sentinel and I thought it was fantastic! My 70's Horror list really needs to be expanded to 100 movies much like my 80's list will be, so that I can add more movies. (The Sentinel will definitely be added)

I have seen the top 10 but none are even as remotely scary as #58 Salem's Lot. Good God! Even at age 41 I need to sleep with the lights on after a viewing of this. This is a slowly developing plot but picks up a thrilling head of steam midway through and when the vampires start showing up, you'll find yourself unable to look at them